William Wyler was to have directed this adaptation of Moss Hart's hit Broadway play with music/ recruiting poster-vivant, but his own military commitments intervened and it went to a most unlikely helmsman: George Cukor. The "women's director" has a sure touch on the many documentary-like sequences of Air Corps training, and he invests it with more unhackneyed humanity than the genre generally allowed, particularly in wartime. Sure, the gee-whiz (and entirely white, save for one unbilled Chinese-American recruit) bunch of newbies are nicer and more wholesome than in real life, and the speechifying about home and Mom and the wife and kid gets pretty thick, but it's efficient propaganda and undeniably stirring. Notable, too, for the all-military male cast, several of whom didn't reemerge for years: Lon McAllister, Edmond O'Brien, Martin Ritt, Red Buttons (in drag, as an Andrews Sister), Peter Lind Hayes, Karl Malden, Kevin McCarthy, Gary Merrill, Lee J. Cobb, and Don Taylor. Also for a very early glimpse of Judy Holliday, who doesn't show up till an hour and a half into the picture but has some good little sequences as O'Brien's worried-sick Brooklyn spouse. Too bad its rights are in a tangle and the only print anyone knows of is 16mm; evidently, after Twentieth Century Fox released it (to considerable success), the rights reverted to the Army, and if there's a good 35mm print out there, it probably lies somewhere in the bowels of the Pentagon. It's disingenuous and corny in spots, but it also captures the rigors of military training and the terrors of war vividly, and it deserves to be more widely seen.
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marcslope28 August 2006
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I have fond memories of helping to 'make' Winged Victory. As an aviation cadet stationed at Santa Ana, several bus-loads of us were taken to Camp Pendleton to the campsite someone else mentioned above. We were seated around, watching a Christmas show produced by the soldiers stationed on the 'island'. Three performers with mop wigs did a lip-sync imitation of the Andrews Sisters. I think mail call was then going on when the sirens started. Everyone was instructed to 'scatter' and just get out of sight. Some went up the beach out of sight for a swim. I was in a group that crawled into a dummy tent (no tent flap) and we had a long session of poker. The film producers had quite a time trying to round up enough soldiers to do a re-take of the scene. Of course planes were dubbed in later to bomb the camp. They also did a PT session at the SAAC base with hundreds doing exercises and Lon and a taller actor participating. I joined in helping to push one of them up and down when retakes of chinning themselves became overwhelming. I never did see the movie but heard once that that scene was not used. There was a report that a preview used it, and that one of our hands was showing on the cropped scene (we were holding their legs to assist in the exercise). Thanks for the reminiscing. I would love to see it.
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bweverka6 October 2005I had a personal interest in this movie. When I was 17 and just out of high school I got a job at 20th Century Fox as a member of the Laborers and Hod Carriers Union. At the end of my first day (sweeping the deck of an aircraft carrier) I was told to bring a suitcase the next morning with enough clothes etc. for one or two weeks. When I arrived the next morning a bus was waiting and about 20 of us headed south toward San Diego. Just short of there we stopped at an army base called either Camp Callan or Camp Hahn. Once we were bunked in we went north a few miles into Camp Pendleton, the big Marine base. There, on the beach, we started building what was supposed to be a Japanese Pacific island base. It took us about a week or ten days to complete the installation, which included a water tank, gun entrenchments, sand-bagged trenches and living quarters. All this was at very high pay, sometimes 'golden time', which was triple our regular hourly wage. Our food was also first rate = prime rib at lunch, etc. - which was amazing because it was wartime and very hard to get good meat at home.
Once the job was finished I waited eagerly for the movie to come out, which was about eight or ten months later. Then I waited eagerly through two hours of the movie before my handiwork finally came on screen. Then it was no more than three or four minutes (maybe less) of the movie's heroes dive bombing the base and blowing it to smithereens. A bit disappointing, but still fun.
In spite of the disappointment I enjoyed the movie and have not seen it since. I learned later that this movie was underwritten by the government and Fox was paid on a cost plus basis, which maybe accounts for our extravagant pay and lifestyle down there. Bob Weverka -
pvkennedy13 April 2002This movie gets it right. As a former USAF Aviation Cadet, I can tell you this movie has it all. The tedium of the application process. The waiting for word. The joy of acceptance. The worry about making it through the course. The sorrow of watching one's buddies (perhaps the best of them) wash out. The anguish of paying the ultimate price - the death of fellow student airmen. The glory of graduation. Always the flying, the flying, the flying. Many are called but few are chosen. We did for pay what we would have eagerly paid to do. Later, a lifetime of flying fighters and close air support aircraft. Living through combat in Viet Nam but always with the foundation gained in the Aviation Cadet Corps.
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This movie has always been a favorite of mine since first seeing it as a 12 year old kid in 1962 when it was shown on a Los Angeles television station's "late show". The characters are very engaging from the start of the picture, and it is too bad that the movie has never been released for video tape, nor is it ever shown on television (apparently due to a prohibition by the Estate of Moss Hart, the playwright/producer/director who wrote the story and first presented it on the New York stage during WWII -- the reason for denying its showing is hard to fathom more than 50 years after it was made). I did not see the movie again for over 30 years, when someone who had actually been a major cast member of the movie was able to get me a "bootlegged" copy on VHS (poor video quality, but good audio). My memory of it was correct: it was still an engaging and fascinating movie to watch. An amazing aspect of this film is just how many of its stars, just starting out in their careers at the time 1944), went on to became either major motion picture stars or at least well-known and fully-employed actors (e.g. Judy Holliday, Edmond O'Brien, Jeanne Crain, Barry Nelson, Don Taylor, Karl Malden, Peter Lind Hayes, George "Superman") Reeves, Red Buttons, Lee J. Cobb, Kevin McCarthy, and Gary Merrill). The scenes with the B-24 Liberators are terrific, especially the close-up shots where the details of the giant (for those times) 4-engine bomber (then 18,000+ manufactured, now nearly extinct) can be seen. Good insight into the different levels of training that a pilot-cadet went through on his way to being assigned to a bomber crew (of course, VERY gender-biased as was the trend of the day: only the MEN became pilots, the women just supported them in their roles -- hardly acceptable in today's world). I hope someday it will be released onto video for a new generation to enjoy.
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I saw this film as a 10 year old in Wash. D.C. during the war. I was very impressed with it to the point that I wanted to go and sign up for the Army Air Corps right then. I have yet to see it since. The film was a stepping stone for some future Hollywood stars such as Lee. J. Cobb, Red Buttons, Don Taylor, Jeanne Crain & Edmond O'Brien. I hope whatever legal hassle is holding up the release of the video will be settled before I die. This is a great film for today's youth especially in this present time of war.
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Good_to_see_Winged_Victory31 August 2010Unless you have a personal connection to this movie, you will probably just consider it a good movie. In my case, my grandfather was involved in its production so I rated it higher. My grandfather was too old and had too many kids to serve during WWII so instead, he moved the family as needed to do his part. For most of the war, he was the final inspector for the bombers at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona. Some of the scenes with the bombers were filmed nearby. He received a certificate of thanks for his participation but it has been lost over the years. It meant a lot to my Dad and his siblings to be able to see this movie again.
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I was 17 when this movie came out and in my senior year of high school.. Several of my friends enlisted in various services and I knew I was to be drafted when I became 18.. This movie made me make up my mind to enlist in the Army Air Corps..The movie was very accuate showing all the testing that we had to go through inorder to get into the Cadet program, but by the time I finished my "boot" camp and was about to get assigned, the war in Europe was about over and air-men were no longer needed.. I did serve as an aerial gunner/ flight radio operator so I did get some flying in before I was discharged.. Anyway I'm still trying to get a copy of that movie and I've also tried to contact 20th Century
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nfny4030 October 2006Has anyone been able to buy this movie? My Uncle "Hutch" was a Real (not Reel) pilot who is seen tossing his wings in the air and then snatching them with his fist as he was awarded his pilot's wings.
He's only on screen a few seconds but my family would love to have the movie. He was killed in a dogfight over Italy, he was only 24 at the time. Do we know the film studio that made it?
Or has anyone seen it at a video store, like Blockbuster? I wish they would make entire catalogs of these old movies available as it is so cheap to make DVD's these days.
Please email me at nfny40@yahoo.com if you know where I can buy a copy. Thank you. -
cartwrightbride18 May 2008I saw this movie once as a kid on the late-late show and fell in love with it.
It took 30+ years, but I recently did find it on DVD - it wasn't cheap, either - in a catalog that specialized in war movies. We watched it last night for the first time. The audio was good, however it was grainy and had the trailers between reels. Even so, it was better than I remembered it. I was also impressed at how true it was to the play.
The catalog is around here someplace. If you're sincere in finding it, fire me a missive and I'll see if I can get you the info. cartwrightbride@yahoo.com -
btillman6320 November 2004As has been noted, this is one wartime film that got it right. Apart from the accurate depiction of army flight training, WV probably remains the only movie featuring the Consolidated B-24. A flight instructor who helped with the film reports that most of the cast got along well with the supporting officers and men, the exception being Edmund O'Brien. While filming an engine-start sequence he noted the usual "fire guard" with the extinguisher and became exceedingly nervous. Finally he "abandoned ship" and refused to proceed with the shot. Considering that his performance was witnessed by genuine airmen, let alone some combat veterans, EO's stock plummeted on base.
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planktonrules3 May 2021"Winged Victory" is a most unusual film. Although it was made by Twentieth Century-Fox and was directed by George Cukor, the film stars all sorts of contract actors who had been drafted or volunteered for the war effort. These men and women were mostly all unknowns back in 1944 but many went on to big careers, such as Judy Holiday, Jeanne Crain, Edmund O'Brien, Lee J. Cobb, Red Buttons, Barry Nelson, George Reeves, Karl Malden, Gary Merrill and quite a few others.
The story begins back at home as various men received word that they were accepted into the Air Corps' program. But instead of being sent to various schools (such as pilot training or gunnery), the men are given exhaustive and nerve-wracking tests to determine the best fit for their abilities. Following this, they are assigned to various programs or washed out if seen as unfit. Then, you see them going through training program and finally they are sent into action. Along the way, you see a few vignettes, such as men with their girlfriends and one man in pilot training who was killed...and the reaction of his pregnant wife. I am actually surprised that the movie showed this latter story, as I expected it all to be very upbeat and rah-rah for us...which, fortunately, wasn't always the case. Because of that, it felt more real and interesting to watch. Overall, a very interesting film that seemed more like a hybrid between a drama and a documentary...well made and well worth seeing....as well as an important historical piece. -
JohnHowardReid14 May 2018Copyright 20 December 1944 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 20 December 1944. U.S. release: December 1944. U.K. release: 26 February 1945. Australian release: 28 June 1945. 15 reels. 130 minutes. Cut to 100 minutes in Australia.
NOTES: Opening on Broadway at the 44th Street Theatre (sic) on 20 November 1943 and running a sold-out 212 performances, Moss Hart's Air Corps recruiting venture traced the exploits of a group of typical young Americans from induction to graduation, and thence to combat duty in the Pacific. Brilliantly staged by its author, with an enormous cast of uniformed men and civilian colleagues, Winged Victory was one of the major theatrical events of the wartime years.
Space permits only a partial cast listing. Prominent in the company were: Edmond O'Brien, Don Taylor, Mark Daniels, Barry Nelson, Lee J. Cobb, Peter Lind Hayes, Alan Baxter, Philip Bourneuf, Dick Hogan, Rune Hultman, Red Buttons, Kevin McCarthy, Karl Malden, Danny Scholl, George Reeves, Ray Middleton, John Tyers, Whit Bissell, Ed McMahon, Gary Merrill, Anthony Ross, Martin Ritt, Don Beddoe, Michael Duane, Don Hanmer, Ray McDonald, Victor Young, Zeke Manners, Alfred Ryder, Phyllis Avery, Elisabeth Fraser, Olive Deering.
Allergic to airplanes, Moss Hart nevertheless flew thousands of miles in Air Force bombers gathering material for his play. In addition, he insisted on waiving all royalties. During its S.R.O. six-month Broadway run, Winged Victory grossed more than one million dollars for the Army Emergency Relief fund. The play was produced by the U.S. Army Air Forces. Harry Horner designed the sets, David Rose wrote the music.
COMMENT: Director George Cukor here proves that he does indeed have "the big feel" of a broad dramatic canvas. It was a mistake to fire him from Gone With The Wind. In fact, Cukor's skilled, polished direction and his spectacular handling of the action locations, are as major an asset to this tribute to the Army Air Force as is Moss Hart's restrained, naturalistic script, or Glen MacWilliams' admirably crisp photography. Cukor elicits uniformly excellent performances from his AAF cast. No expense has been spared, and production values are outstanding, with Barbara McLean's skilled film editing a treasure in itself. -
"Winged Victory" is something of a unique wartime film in more ways than one. First it is based on a 1943 play by Ross Hart that was actually produced and staged by the U. S. Army Air Forces during WW II. It was done to raise funds for the Army Emergency Relief fund. It was highly acclaimed and a great success. The movie itself, then, was produced by 20th Century Fox with the screenplay by Hart, but only after the stage show had run its course and closed. Thus, this film came out a year after its Broadway opening.
Second, this movie uses many of the Broadway cast who traveled to Hollywood to make the film. Some 300 men were involved in the play production, and all were active members of the Army Air Forces. A casting call went out for anyone with acting experience, and three dozen of the cast had been or were to become prominent actors, musicians or entertainers over time. Among these were Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Gary Merrill, Barry Nelson, Edmond O'Brien, David Rose, George Reeves, Red Buttons, Whit Bissell, Peter Lind Hayes, Don Taylor, Alan Baxter, and John Forsythe. And, wives of the actors played most of the small number of female roles in the play. Only a few actors were added to the film who weren't in the stage play, notably, Lon McCallister as Frankie Davis, and Judy Holiday as Ruth Miller.
Third, the film credits actually list actors by their U. S. Army ranks. Thus, they read, Sgt. Mark Daniels, Sgt. Edmond O'Brien, Pvt. Lon McCallister, Cpl. Don Taylor, Cpl. Lee J. Cobb, T/Sgt. Peter Lind Hayes, Cpl. Alan Baxter, Cpl. Red Buttons, Cpl. Barry Nelson, Sgt. Rune Hultman, Cpl. Bernard J. Tyers, Cpl. Phillip Bourneuf, Cpl. Garry Merrill, Cpl. Whitner N. Bissell, Sgt. George Reeves, PFC George Petrie, PFC Alfred Ryder, Cpl. Karl Malden, PFC Martin Ritt, Cpl. Harry Lewis; S/Sgt Fred A Cotton, Cpl. Henry Rowland, Lt. Gilbert Herman, S/Sgt. Sascha Brastoff, Cpl. Archie Robbins, Cpl. Jack Slate, and PFC Henry Slate. Besides Judy Holliday, other female roles are played by Jeanne Crain, Jane Ball, Jo-Carroll Dennison and Geraldine Wall.
Another unique aspect of this film, as in the play, is the very detailed and thorough picture of the physical, aptitude and other tests the men went through to determine their eligibility for pilot training. Many Army and Navy films have been made about or that show basic training, or boot camp. The eight-week basic training is mostly the same for all branches of the armed services. There are varying degrees and attention to physical stress and endurance according to the branch and the needs of its members. But all of the boot camps teach basic skills of survival, protection, armed combat, escape and evasion, first aid, and general discipline. After basic training, recruits in the various services then receive specialty training according to their respective jobs and duties In the case of combat personnel, that means more rigorous physical training for infantry, tank training for armored units and artillery, medics, cooks, vehicles and automotive, etc.
Well, because of the nature of air force service and handling very expensive pieces of equipment and being responsible for the lives of other men in them, pilots must have specific physical aptitudes and abilities. So, the pre-selection of candidates for pilot training is much more extensive. And, once selected, then the training itself further breaks out those able to be pilots and those for other, related air service duties such as engineers, navigators and gunners.
The play and this film were intended primarily to show the public this very aspect of the Air Forces. And with a nice story built around five principal characters and their families and/or sweethearts, the film does just that. All of the men trained in this film would go to the Pacific Theater through the end of the war in 1945.
This is a very down-to-earth film about young Americans coming of age and anxious to serve and defend their country in World War II, and who yearn to do so in the air as pilots of fighter planes or big bombers. It shows some of their family lives, their time together in training, and a great deal of the technical, and unusual testing and training they go through.
After being contracted to write the play, Ross Hart traveled across the U. S. and visited many Army Air Force bases. He observed the testing and training, and interviewed and talked to many servicemen. Thus, his stage play and screenplay are the real thing. For filming, Fox crews visited actual testing and training sites. The Army Air Forces provided 14 technical advisors for the film, and, of course, all of the aircraft seen in the film are the authentic thing then in use. The film shows 27 B-24 bombers, dozens of training aircraft, and several P-40 Warhawks, that replaced the P-38s.
The prologue in the film reads, "In this picture all the boys in uniform are members of the U. S. Army Air Forces." And, the credits list Sgt. Harry Horner for Continuity Design and Sgt. David Rose for Music. George Cukor directed the film. Here are a couple of favorite lines from the film.
Pinkie Scariano, "Why they're gonna give me my little P-38 and off I go into the wild blue yonder. Just come down to the ground for women and decorations."
Supply sergeant, reciting items as supply clerks hand the items to the new recruits, "One blouse - that's a coat with buttons on it."